NDC Primaries: Mahama Wants Probe Into Vote Buying Claims

Presidential candidate for the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, is demanding an investigation into the party’s recently held parliamentary primaries where some candidates used him to woo delegates.

The former president expressing his worry over the issue said some of the candidates were using his recorded voice on tape as evidence of his support to convince delegates to mass votes, a situation he has vehemently denied.

This was revealed by former presidential hopeful for the NDC, Stephen Atubiga, who just lost his parliamentary primaries contest in the Binduri constituency, in an interview on Otec FM’s political show ‘Dwabrem’, on Monday, hosted by Captain Koda.

The opposition National Democratic Congress over the weekend held its Parliamentary Primaries to elect candidates for the 2020 general elections but there have been widespread allegations of machinations and votes buying during the exercise.

The incumbent Member of Parliament for Kumbungu Hon. Ras Mubarak, Victoria Hammer and host of others have all raised concerns over the monetization that marred the process.

” I know President Mahama is very much upset with issue of votes buying that marred some constituencies. He is also not happy at the way and manner some aspirants used his name to campaign as well as his taped voice to convince delegates for their votes,” Atubiga said.

“John Mahama is the father for all in the party and does not support any individual, so he is worry that they affiliated him to the camps of some candidates and Is therefore demanding an investigating into the matter,” he added.

He complained that,” there was display of cash by some aspirants to the extent that some were paying 1,000 to 1,200 Ghana cedis to delegates. Some delegates after receiving the cash made up their minds and there was nothing I could do. Poverty is so high that only rich people can afford to pay 50 cedis for the family for the whole month, so you can imagine the reaction of the delegates after receiving the cash.”

Mr. Stephen Atubiga who claimed to have provided the Binduri community with a corn mill at a cost of thousand Ghana cedis as a means of giving back to the society ahead of the elections, insisted that all the defeated aspirants at the NDC Binduri constituency would formally petition the party with their concerns for the right action to be taken.